Dear Family,

Last week Pam drove to Atascadero on Tuesday and then got up very early (about 3:00 AM) and took Skylar and Suzanne up to Stanford in Palo Alto.

Skylar went through the usual testing, having his blood drawn and tested and undergoing an MRI scan to check the state of his tumors.

The good news is that Skylar's blood counts, which are indicative of the health of his immune system, are up. The discouraging news is that over the last two months or more, his tumors have not shrunken any in spite of regular chemotherapy treatment.

While we are thankful that the tumors are not growing, we had hoped that they would have shrunken to the point that any necessary surgery could be performed to remove them and that Skylar would then complete his course of treatment within the next couple of months. It now seems as though that is not to be.

Instead, Skylar must return to Stanford this week (Thursday) so that the doctors can evaluate and schedule a new course of chemotherapy, using a different set of chemicals. We will probably rent a car so that Suzanne can take him up there, allowing Pam to have a much needed rest from long days on the road.

I think that Skylar must be sensing some of Nana's and his Mom's discouragement because, when she returned home, Pam related to me that Skye had been quite "clingy", wanting to stay close to her and to be held. Please pray for his encouragement, that he would have the state of mind needed to fight this disease. Of course, foremost in my mind and heart is that he would come to a true and conscious knowledge of and trust in the Lord Jesus as his own Lord and Deliverer from sin and death. I have been very encouraged that his older brother Chris has been willing to read to him from the Bible often.

Please pray that the doctors would make wise choices for adjusting Skylar's treatment, and that the Lord would continue to protect Skylar from the bad side effects of the chemicals involved in this treatment. Please ask the Lord to give us courage and patience and that we may trust Him completely to do the right thing for Skylar, but at the same time that we might have wisdom to take effective action on Skylar's behalf.

We would still very much like to see Skylar and his family move down here to stay with us for a season, but we are at a loss as to how to bring this about. Please ask the Lord to work out a way for this to happen so that we can more effectively minister to Skylar.

Thank you once again for the beautiful quilt that so many of you worked hard on to make for Skylar's comfort and instruction. I recently completed the project of photographing it and I have put it up on Skylar's website for all to appreciate and enjoy. You can find it at http://skylar.cjb.net and if you click on the link you will see both front and back sides of the quilt. Then, if you click on any square, you can see a close-up of that square. All 80(!) squares are available for you to view!

Thank you all again for your continued love, concern, and prayers for Skylar and for us.

With Christian Love,

-Dann

Dann McCreary - creatr@geocities.com - http://creator.cjb.net - http://uptime.cjb.net

"Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life." - Isaiah 43